I’m second guessing not getting the rooftop lights on my special order, anyone know how far into the process you can make changes? Before VIN aid assigned, before it goes into the build queue, etc.?

 

Do you have a VIN? It does not take long to get one. At that point the build is scheduled in the system. Talk to you dealer. Instead of revising the order maybe they can install on arrival, might save you time.

 

When I ordered my F-350 last December, I was told I could make changes the first 2 weeks.

 

I tried adding the ultimate camera package like 4 days in and it was too late. I also have no idea if there is a vin yet cus my dealer hasn’t told me anything and when I asked today he said he would check and never got back to me.

 

I wanted to make a change after about two weeks, ( 4.3 axles instead of 3.73 ). Saleman said it was too late and the truck had come off the assembly line. I simply reordered.
Dealer attempted to lay a guilt trip on me. I still re ordered with no penalties .

 

Once my dealer hit send on the order it was too late.

 

So you see, it seems to be dependent on your dealer, and their willingness to make a phone call to Ford. When there was an error in my order, the Fleet mgr at my dealer told me that from the time they submit the order, there’s a week or so that nothing happens, or maybe Ford pushes some paper around. After that week, when the order get’s entered and scheduled for production, your dealer should have a VIN number, and the order cannot be changed; the truck is being built and shipped to your dealer, no matter how screwed up the order is. However, if your dealer isn’t willing to do anything, they may not let you change even within the first week. While I briefly considered the rooftop clearance lights, I went test driving used trucks in Seattle in the rain and when two of them had both clearance lights and leaky roofs, I made up my mind - no clearance lights, no moon roof.

 

Like it has been said, you probably on average have a 4-7 days to make a change. Once an order goes in, the next step is Ford picking it up as a good order and moving from a dealer order to a "good order". At that point it's too late.
But seriously, there's no way I would want cab lights on these new trucks, way too many out there have leaked. Have you seen the fit and finish on some of the cab lights?(not good Ford).

 

Most of the time, as long as you don't have a vin, you can make changes anytime you want easily. Once you have a vin and scheduled for production, its too late and no changes can be made most of the time. It would be an act of God to make a change after a vin had been assigned. Your dealer has to pretty much kiss a Ford Reps *** to make a change at that time.

When I ordered mine, I added the medium duty battery and adaptive cruise with no issues at all when I didn't have a vin. When I got a vin, I wanted to add the Snowplow pkg, and i thought it was going to be a long shot. Since im a repeat customer and the Ford Rep just happened to be at the dealership that week and it got added with a vin assigned. It all depends on how much effort your dealership wants to put into it. My saying is, anything is possible.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone! I was able to get ahold of my dealer and, 2.5 weeks after order, was told the order had been confirmed by Ford and it was too late. Could be truth, could be lack of effort, but either way it wasn’t something that was important enough to me to make a stink of since the dealer had been great to work with overall. Hopefully the order will move quickly and I’ll have the truck in the next month or so!

 

At some point, the submitted order gets processed by Ford -- that's when it gets programmed into its system, a VIN is issued, and everything is locked in place. At that point, I don't think there is any way to stop the process ... that truck is getting built. However, that's not an instantaneous process. There is a lag of a few days to a couple weeks between when the order is submitted and when Ford processes it. I think that as soon as the order is submitted, it cannot be changed, technically. However, a dealer could cancel the order and process a new one with your changes. This probably resets you back in queue and you lose a few days.

I ordered a 2-tone with magnetic. My dealer accidentally configured stone grey. I didn't notice it until 2 days later. No problem ... but I don't think my dealer had even sent in the order, yet. Not sure.

Be meticulous both in what you want and in scrutinizing the order. My mistake is that I was focusing on all of the cost-options. While 2-tone paint is a cost option, that option is separate from the color ... the color is mentioned in a completely different location on the order sheet and it isn't monetized. So, review every single line. Paint color, front seating configuration, interior color, and so on. Don't make my mistake and only verify the monetized options!

Good luck.

 

Order process goes like this...

Afford pulls all orders once a week which happens over eight Wednesday into Thursday morning. So if you order on a Friday, you have worst case till following Wednesday.

The order once placed will go into "unscheduled - clean" which means no issues with the order but it is just sitting waiting for Ford to pick a week.

You can usually still make changes for a week into that unless a VIN gets assigned quickly. Once a CIN is there, nothing can be done.

I have 2 Explorer STs (ordered Jan 19th) on order, one has a VIN and build date of 6/6 (ordered as dealer stock) and cant make changes, the other is just unscheduled clean and I can still make changes because no VIN assigned yet.